Book Notes: 'When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home'

Wednesday

Jun 29, 2011 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2011 at 4:33 PM

Paula Caplan’s new and timely book, “When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans,” is intended to empower each of us to take a role in healing our country and our veterans’ suffering as the wars wind down and more veterans come home.

Rae Francoeur

“When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans” By Paula J. Caplan. MIT Press, Cambridge MA, 2011. 282 pages. $27.95.

Paula Caplan’s new and timely book, “When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans,” is intended to empower each of us to take a role in healing our country and our veterans’ suffering as the wars wind down and more veterans come home.

She writes about the emotional trauma U.S. veterans experience due to their relatively long and horrific deployments. More than half of those who describe themselves as emotionally troubled have yet to receive assistance. Caplan takes the position that each of us, as Americans, has a personal responsibility to not just bear witness to war’s consequences but to take part in the healing process. She also shows us exactly what to do and how.

Caplan is a clinical and research psychologist who is an affiliate at Harvard University’s DuBois Institute and a fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Her ideas are, as readers will see, controversial among certain clinicians.

For some, her book will be seen as welcome and groundbreaking. It is a how-to book, in essence, that explains what Americans can do to help the men and women who fought and sacrificed much on our behalf. For others, Caplan’s suggestions for intervention may seem too simplistic. She explains that her assertions about the accessibility of the science and practice of psychology have been criticized by some of her peers. She counters with her belief that the layperson has enormous power to help heal those who suffer.

There are four key messages in this book.

One key point that Caplan makes is that “Anyone who has seen the worst of humankind’s horrors needs and deserves tenderness and understanding.” Our returning vets need and deserve love and acceptance. We can help our veterans at the same time that we gain awareness about our country’s involvements.

Second, veterans’ emotional responses to the literally unspeakable horrors of war are often diagnosed as mental illnesses. Caplan contends the diagnosis is wrong and destructive. “An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior,” wrote Viktor Frankl in “Man’s Search for Meaning.” Caplan shares this view. A diagnosis of mental illness isolates the veteran and limits the help he or she can get.

Third, the United States is so “psychiatrized” that we, as laypeople, have begun to believe that there’s nothing we can do to help. Helping those who suffer has become relegated to the realm of professionals. So far, with regard to veterans who suffer, there’s too little help and what there is doesn’t work, according to Caplan.

Fourth, and this is the main point of the book, we as laypeople can help veterans enormously simply by sitting down and listening, one on one. According to the “Iraq War Clinician Guide,” the initial needs of vets upon their return are to be heard, validated, understood and comforted in a way that matches their person style. This approach can be thought of as non-judgmental listening and it can be practiced by anyone who wants to help a fellow citizen.

In the second half of the book, Caplan explains how to find a veteran, how to begin a one-on-one conversation, and how to launch into a process of compassionate acceptance that leads to unburdening and an eventual lifting of shame and grief. One point that seems particularly true is that we in this country are extremely uncomfortable with strong emotions of any kind. This response by loved ones, which can manifest by closing down or suggesting that the vet see a therapist, further isolates the veteran. This situation is more acute when the vet is dealing with death and grief. We simply don’t talk about death here in America. Most veterans have seen death occur and at least half have experienced the death of a friend. Not to be able to deal with it further alienates the vet.

It’s rare, these days, to be shown the way to make a real difference. As a journalist, I’ve experienced veterans’ rage first-hand and I know that it takes a lot of composure to sit still and listen without judgment. I suggest that those interested in this approach unite to create listening centers where there’s privacy, comfortable chairs and hot coffee. It might be a good idea to connect with a trained advocate you can call when you have questions. Should something like Caplan suggests actually take hold, it could have the unintended consequence of provoking a drop in funded, officially sanctioned veterans’ support services.

Caplan’s book is a thought-provoking addition to the important conversations we’re having about our war veterans. It’s a good book to have on the table on the Fourth of July weekend, when friends and family celebrate this great country and talk about what we can do to keep it that way.

Rae Francoeur can be reached at rae.francoeur@verizon.net. Read her blog at http://www.freefallrae.blogspot.com/ or her book, “Free Fall: A Late-in-Life Love Affair,” available online or in bookstores.

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